Songuifolo Silué developed around 1930, beside the traditional style, a very pure and minimalistic look in masks and statues. Influenced by his friend Fossoungo Dagnogo, who was 20 years older than Songuifolo, this kind of modern interpretation of traditional elements were created. Both carvers were Fono, smithers who worked scluptures in wood. A distinctive feature of both carvers is the triangulary shaped facette in the back of the masks (read more in the blog article: Signs of a Kpelié mask carved by a Fono).

Songuifolo was a Kafibele, a sub-group of Dioulas (Senufos with Islamic background). Masks he carved for the do-society are larger than the traditional Kpelié masks he made for other Senufo groups.

In literatur Songuifolo Silué is qualified as a master. In Second World War he was a French soldier and got arrested in German war imprisonment. His work was not influenced by these experiences. Also he met Sabariko Koné in Ouézomon, but Songuifolo just watched how Sabariko worked, but he did not adapt his style. Songuifolo worked for almost 60 years before he went blind in the early 1980ies. He was a famous carver, so he had many orders. It might be one reason, that he developed a less elaborated style, so he and his helpers and pupils could produce more in less time. For Karl-Heinz Krieg, who followed his work for decades, Songuifolo carved so-called study pieces in what he called the Ouézomon-style so show the difference between traditional and his own pure style. In projection Songuifolo carved more than 1000 sculptures, like masks, statues, pulleys and other objects for tribal use and for the so-called Airport-art. Silué was one of the most productive carvers of the Senufo. Still today, you find his objects in the carving centres like in Korhogo.

Because of his two styles, he is a very interesting personality with an amazing perception of shape. Comparing his small Nyingife, for example, he works in same proportion thought they all have different sizes (learn more about this in our blog). This is comparable with the Absolute Hearing of a musician.

Another sign of his outstanding skills, is the early Kpelié mask he carved between 1935 and 1939. He had not found his right proportion yet in that mask, but he covered the knotwhole of the wood precisely behind a decoration element that is not been shown.